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respond to the following discussion as a peer. The public interest and special interest group theories describe the motivation behind government intervention in the healthcare market (Dewar, 2015). The public interest theory states that the government intervenes to promote the general interests of society and to promote efficiency and equity in the health care market. The public interest theory also suggests that those markets are fragile and are not likely to operate efficiently if left alone without government intervention (Bernstein, 2020). This government intervention comes in response to market failure and imperfections. An example of public interest theory would be government-funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. These programs were created to help provide health insurance to those in need of health services and promote the general interests of the public. Medicare helps the older population while Medicaid helps those who are impoverished. The special interest theory states that the amounts and types of legislation are determined by the forces of supply and demand for such legislation. In this theory, politicians increase the likelihood of getting reelected by moving wealth or resources away from the public and toward powerful interest groups (Dewar, 2015). They seek positive reception of their goals and objectives through legislation. These two theories differ in the sense of why the government intervenes in a marketplace. An example of the special interest theory is the government’s involvement during this pandemic by pushing many Americans to get vaccinated against COVID 19. There is often much involvement and intervention between the government and healthcare-related issues.

Bernstein, L. (2020). Public interest theory (economics). Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Dewar, D. M. (2017). Essentials of health economics (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN-13: 9781284054620